Mom had surgery last week. The whipple surgery. I do know after surgery blood sugars go out of control but not to this point…
Mom was on Tresiba before and it truly was godsend. Her blood sugar was in the upper 90’'s-125’s most of the time( after bed, before breakfast and after meals).
Her new endo, assigned from the hospital…works with her surgery team, he does not want to put mom back on Tresiba. His explanation oh all pancreatic surgery patients of his are on Lantus. Also, mom was on 25 units on Tresiba before and now he told her to take 20 units on Lantus,
Mom’s blood sugar this entire week, has been in the upper 250’s after meals/ late night and breakfast.
I keep asking him to increase the basal but nope, he just won’t cooperate.
What in the world do I do? I’m starting to think, he seriously gets paid by Lantus otherwise why would he force us to use it? Mom also feels a lot of pain from Lantus but she didn’t from Tresiba. I would drop him in a heartbeat but the problem is, he is assigned to her surgical team so in a way…i don’t want him to feel embarrassed that we chose another Endo.
I’m thinking of changing to another Dr but the problem is, they are his colleague so he would find out abt it.
what to do, what to do.
I just checked her blood sugar after 5 hours and it’s 294!
Last time she had a 294 was back in April when she was on no Basal or Bolus!
P.S oh and this is the same Dr that apparently got mad at my mother after hearing I am a Software Engineer. According to what he said, what does a Software Engineer " know about Diabetes?" Diabetes isn’t rocket science, I have learned SO MUCH simply by just READING!
Thanks for all of your responses. Hope this messages reaches all of you in good health.
Shocking Dr behavior. Can you go back to her previous dt? Your mother is the client. Just because his other patients are on lantus doesn’t mean your mother should be. Do what you need to do to fix this situation. As you know it is not acceptable.
Her previous Endo was the absolute best, but unfortunately she moved out of NYC! This may sound crazy but I really am considering paying her previous Endo a visit once every two months. I reside in NYC and she has moved to West Virginia. That is abt 9 hours away from where I live
If you’re in NYC I’m positive there are other good endos out there, and I’d seek one out rather than putting up with your mom having such suboptimal care. I’m not sure it’s worth it to haul out to West Virginia every two months. If you’re absolutely devoted to your mom’s old endo you could also ask her if she ever bills for remote visits via video conference. Could be enough for getting a new Tresiba prescription and dosing regimen.
Also, if I couldn’t find another Endo in a timely manner and had leftover Tresiba from before the surgery that was not expired, I would just use it if I wasn’t getting good results with the Lantus. Better of course to just find another doctor than be “sneaking around” behind the doctor’s back.
her body has just been through a major ordeal and it’s quite possible that the blood sugar apple cart is largely upset by the recovery from the surgery more so than the different basal
if that’s your doctors reasoning, and he’s not even willing to attempt to explain that to you to anything approaching your satisfaction, then IMO he’s not meeting his obligation to you and your mother.
if you’ve been able to have a conversation with him and he’s not been willing to at least hear you out and defend his reasoning after you clearly explain the history of how much better she did and felt with tresiba-- then if it were me I’d have no qualms whatsoever in looking for a different endo… ideally one who also has a working relationship with her surgical team-- you certainly do not owe any particular doctor that the hospital just happened to assign you any sort of loyalty
Consistent blood sugar readings in the mid to high 200s are what matter here. Your mom’s life and health override any possible professional embarrassment. That should be a no-brainer.
Don’t worry about switching to another endo who may be a colleague of your mother’s current endo. I did this very thing when I got fed up with the BS (and I don’t mean blood sugar) we’d get from my daughter’s first endo, including but not limited to:
*Kept repeating to me ad freaking nauseum that our health insurer would not cover a pump for 6 months, even though I provided her with all the completed paperwork from Insulet and BCBS Federal that needed only her signature. She did not even try the “You need more experience with MDI” line. Just kept on repeating that a pump wouldn’t be covered by insurance. Felt like we were in the Twilight Zone. Sending her an endless stream of very polite (and finally downright groveling) messages via MyChart finally got my daughter’s pump. This took 3.5 months, even with BCBS and Insulet calling the endo to tell her that we had coverage for a pump the day after my daughter’s diagnosis with T1D. 3.5 months is a long time when your child cries every night because Lantus burns.
*Accusations that I would run my daughter’s BGs too low in order to get a good A1c. Turned into Children’s Services for “neglect” for this alleged offense by the school nurse. Then careful analysis of my daughter’s CGM readings indicated this was not true. Endo still would not be an advocate for us with Children’s Services, stating “I don’t want to get into the middle of things.”
*Same lack of support when my daughter’s school turned me into Children’s Services for allegedly “endangering her life” when I instructed her to go “old school” and use a syringe when her BG was in the 300s after a pump failure. Took me 9 months and hours upon hours of phone calls, etc., to have these charges dropped and get exonerated. My daughter is still in therapy secondary to the months of fear that she would be placed in foster care. I will not volunteer at my daughter’s school because I fear the background check would uncover these “bells which can’t be un-rung” and would start some nasty rumors.
New endo is wonderful (and she’s in the very same practice and office as the old “endo-from-H-E-double toothpicks”). She embodies all of the qualities I strive to provide to my own patients each and every day. I saw the old endo when I signed my daughter into D-camp this past summer, and I am not ashamed to admit that I took a great deal of pleasure from blatantly sneering at her!
So my advice to you, Tinsyl, is to switch to a more knowledgeable and supportive endo yesterday!
Thanks so much for everyone’s responses, I will respond back to each of you individually by tomorrow. But for now, tiny update:
I called Mom’s Endo and just pretty much told him how I felt and he agreed to switch to Tresiba- 24 units. He was very very very hesitant at first but I told him, clearly your methods of treating my Mother aren’t working so how about we revert to something that actually did?! I was able to kind of shut him up with a slight knowledge in Biochemistry( Grad school credit here), right after he was more willing to listen to me.
If her sugar remains stable on Tresiba with an adjusted Bolus then great, if not- then I’m leaving.
You’re absolutely right, " As you know it is not acceptable".
I ended up getting rid of the Endo. I like to believe a patient’s recovery has a lot to do or a good amount has to do with the personality of the physician.
LOLLLLLL!, Even if I did, he wouldn’t know what I’m talking abt! But, when it’s time for my Mother’s refill- I will def tell( in a song) her new Endo that she is once again Tresiba ready!
Mom’s numbers are a bit better( she’s running a fever atm so numbers are a bit high but better than before). I ended up firing LOL the endo. I’m sure he knows his stuff but my Mother needs someone who is wiling to re drop her A1c not bring it back up. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do.
I just got off the phone with my Mother’s surgeon and told him I needed to switch to another Endo. So cheers to finding a new Endo who happens to not be affiliated with her Surgical team!
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